Snapverse: A mash-up of selfies, karaoke, music videos

Whether you're a bit of an exhibitionist or a voyeur, or somewhere in between, there's no shortage of mobile apps that let you shoot, share and view short videos of random people doing random things.

In particular, I'm referring to popular smartphone apps like Vine, SnapChat, Kik, Keek and Instagram, all of which take advantage of the device's built-in camera.

And now we've got Snapverse, a new downloadable iOS app that adds music into the mix.

While not without its flaws, this new and free app is fun to play around with.

With Snapverse, users can create up to 20-second music videos or "selfie" karaoke renditions of songs from popular artists, such as Macklemore, Chris Brown and Pearl Jam, to name a few. When you're singing along with the track, you can choose how much of the final mix is your own voice versus the original vocalist (some, all or none), plus you've got the option to display scrolling on-screen lyrics to help you out (and you can choose how opaque the words are).

Founded by music industry veteran Scot McCracken, all Snapverse tracks are licensed from major music companies Universal, Warner Bros. and Sony – unlike other similar apps like Frontier Design Group's Video Star.

As an interesting feature, you can start and stop the recording at your discretion -- to ensure you're getting the best possible shots – and when the video is rendered the music will play in sync and create a seamless production.

You don't need to use music at all, by the way. In fact, some of the popular video "snaps" from last week included Halloween sound effects. You can also import a video clip from your iPhone's library opposed to shooting something new.

Once you've created your mobile masterpiece, you're encouraged to share your handiwork with friends on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Vine, Instagram, and other social platforms, or you can send it via email. Similar to other apps, you can "follow" people you admire, add hashtags to your videos (so others can find what they're interested in, such as #tattoos or #dogs) and create video responses to posts right within the app (called "Snapbacks").

If you want to see what's trending, tap the Popular or Featured snaps. You might see an attractive blond girl on a skateboard weaving down a street to Macklemore's Wing$, a panoramic view of a beach to music from Aer or a young boy lip-synching to Train's Hey, Soul Sister.

While a good idea and easy to use, Snapverse could benefit from more songs to choose from -- and from bigger names, too. Also, overall, the video snaps were somewhat entertaining but not truly amazing. In other words, the tools are here for someone to do something spectacular, but I didn't see it yet.

Another issue: no Android version at the time of writing this.

Still, as a fun tool for personal expression, Snapverse adds a music theme to the growing number of video apps to help unleash and share your creativity in short bits.